LAHORE: The Pakistan Readymade Clothes Producers and Exporters Affiliation (PRGMEA) has urged the federal government to revise the present Textile Coverage, advocating for a separate five-year ‘Attire Coverage’ that will grant the garment sector autonomous standing.
“The federal government ought to current a separate five-year ‘Attire Coverage’, detaching the garment sector from textiles and giving it an unbiased standing within the aftermath of the expiring GSP Plus standing and opening up of recent alternatives in view of the U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee’s (ITC) report on the competitiveness of Pakistan’s attire trade to be submitted on the finish of August this 12 months,” PRGMEA chairman Mubashar Naseer Butt mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.
Butt appreciated the federal government’s pressing response to the US ITC report on the competitiveness of the attire trade of Pakistan, noticed that the transfer holds important implications, presenting a beneficial alternative for the nation’s attire trade to reinforce its export as a result of the US’ main focus can be on attire import from Pakistan.
“So, we have to strengthen this sector, giving it an id like the remainder of the world does, because the EU nation’s single demand can be simply attire merchandise, not the uncooked materials or material,” Butt added.
He mentioned the textile trade is a very powerful manufacturing trade in Pakistan, with a comparatively full industrial chain—from uncooked cotton, cotton ginning, spinning, clothes, printing and dyeing, to garment manufacturing.
PRGMEA chairman appreciated the Pakistani group for making ready a powerful case, presenting it in a befitting method earlier than the US Worldwide Commerce Fee together with the PRGMEA, as it might show to be a stepping stone for Pakistan’s attire export. “Thus far, the group of Pakistan has achieved a great job—a well-coordinated work of politicians, paperwork, and personal stakeholders.”
Butt advocated for the launch of a brand new and completely unbiased attire coverage in keeping with the textile coverage for the subsequent 5 years, moreover constituting an Attire Council on the federal stage, because the formulation of sector-wise insurance policies is the one remedial answer to keep away from a decline and stabilize textile exports.
“We ask the federal government to overview its textile coverage and introduce an attire coverage as a result of our points are fully completely different. Now we have no explicit gross sales tax problem, and we’re labour-intensive and a serious employment generator as in comparison with the textile sector.”
The garment sector has an immense potential to create jobs with comparatively low funding and fewer vitality wants, because it generates 4 occasions the employment at one-fourth of the vitality consumption in comparison with different textile sectors. “International locations like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia are grabbing a serious share within the world garment market, whereas Bangladesh and India are additionally making ready themselves to choose up a higher share,” he mentioned.
“The US is the biggest export vacation spot for Pakistan, as our attire exports represent round 85 p.c of complete exports to the US, and it may be enhanced considerably if we exploit this new alternative absolutely.”
Pakistani representatives testified concerning the comparative benefit of the attire sector earlier than the US Worldwide Commerce Fee. It was a public listening to by the ITC on the export competitiveness of the attire industries within the South Asian nations, together with Pakistan, within the US market.
PRGMEA EC member and former chairman Sajid Saleem Minhas, who was representing PRGMEA within the listening to, identified that it might be a strategic alternative for Pakistan to showcase the energy and potential of our attire trade, believing {that a} well-crafted response from our finish might result in constructive outcomes for our commerce relations.
Minhas mentioned that presently Pakistan has a little or no share of the US market within the attire sector as a result of they’re topic to relevant MFN tariffs of as much as 38.3 p.c. “It is step one to get duty-free entry to the U.S. market, and the federal government must also assist the personal sector by taking efficient steps to make the value-added textile trade aggressive and vibrant within the US market.”
Stressing the necessity for establishing an ‘Attire Council/Committee,’ he mentioned that it might embrace each the private and non-private sectors to observe the attire sector’s all actions and policymaking for escalating the nation’s exports. He additionally referred to as for giving particular consideration to artifical fiber within the context of its large demand within the US market.
“Within the new attire coverage, we additionally want to reinforce artifical fiber capability as a result of there’s nice potential for it in Pakistan. We have to make methods with the assistance of the federal government on the difficulty of how we will entice additional funding on this regard,” Minhas mentioned.
“Lastly, the U.S. is giving us a possibility to commerce and never rely on help by means of the ITC report, which will likely be submitted by the thirtieth of August. Now, it relies upon upon the federal government how they foyer and pursue to encourage the US authorities to open discussions for a potential tariff-free settlement on attire exports from Pakistan.”